The wife picked up a new 2005 Xb 5-speed last month here in the Detroit suburbs. She seemed pretty pleased with it (although I have a moderatly long list of coomplaints I may post if I decide it's constructive rather than bithy...) Anyway, last Friday she was left stranded on the Southfield Freeway when her clutch/transmission began smoking, lost power, and would not shift into 1st after she pulled over.

It was towed to the selling dealer, who immediatly questioned my wife's driving abilities, trying to distance Toyota from any warranty liability.

The car has 1480 miles on it (that's fourteen HUNDRED eighty)

As it stands now, they made me authorize $475 to diagnose the problem. As of this afternoon they deny warranty coverage claiming the clutch is a normal wear item analagous to brake pads. Tomorrow, after the $475 tear-down, they will formally decide if it's a warranty repair or if I get to pay. They estimate 3 weeks to get parts...

BTW, my wife is a car enthusiast (I drive the Aztek) but she's outgrown her boy racer days. She's smart (Phd UofM engineering) and she knows how to drive a stick (look at what else she drives) Previous cars included VW beetle, Toyota 5 speed pick-up,, and the best car ever made, the original 1983 VW GTI. The Jetta and 911 are both 5-speeds. None have ever needed so much as a clutch adjustment,

I'm not looking for sympathy or criticism (and yes, I know my spelling suks) but I would like to know if anyone has had what I consider premature clutch failure . I'd also appreciate any help/advice in dealing with Toyota's warranty people.

 

i have a tranny problem but its not the clutch... the syncros for 2nd gear a out of align and causes intermittent grinding when shifting in to that gear... The dealer can't find the problem for the 2 times i have taken it in to get looked at. And i know its not operator error because i have had 3 other people drive (all of which have been driving stick for 3 or more years) and it happened to them also.

 

dude take it to another dealer and tell them the issue... f that dealership i would have a lawyer their busting someones nuts for something thats that bad with such LOW mileage... 1400 hell i dont even think u can burn a clutch that fast if you were a NEW driver... good luck with that... i hope u dont end up paying.

 

I know some that have the sycros problem and the clutch sucks, no doubt. But, I've not heard of a lot of clutch failures. That doesn't mean that yours isn't a manufacturing defect though. If they deny it, get another mechanic's opinion and or call scion's 800 number.

 

Call Toyota Customer Service (the number in your owners manual) and try to get it resolved that way. B/f (who is a Toyota tech) screeched, "Fourteen HUNDRED? Are you sure? Factory defect! Call Toyota Customer Service! Fourteen HUNDRED miles... That is NOT normal wear and tear! That should be under warranty!"

 

^^^ What her BF said...

 

Yeah, there's no way in Hell I would have given them any money. The clutch is barely broken in at those miles!

I would have laughed in his face when he told me it was caused by the driver! Are you kidding me?

Talk to the GM of the dealership or the customer care rep, they will take care of you...

Part of the reasoning behind the Scion line is to bring younger customers in and retain them for a few more vehicle purchases. They won't want to loose you as a customer so early in the life of the vehicle.

 

Call scion corporate its a messed up pressure plate . a pos problem my clutch slips when it wants to also. and no matter the driver a bolt on or stock 108hp car's clutch should last alot longer than 1500 miles no matter the driver. it is a faulty design let alone part.

 

Gads, I drive my clutch hard sometimes, when, um, you know, speeding up to get onto 95, yeah, that's it...anyway, with almost 13,000 miles, not one problem.

Sounds to me like a weenie dealership. And, one of the reasons that I bought a new car, was the warranty.

Fight it!

 

Threaten a discrimination suit, and they will quickly change their mind. . .

 

well, mine is not about the clutch... its my steering... only have 3500miles in my tc but i had out in some streeing fluid already... found out that there's a leak on my steering which i'm not sure if its the rack/pinion or the pump itself... need to bring it to the dealer asap... oh btw, imho, the clucth of the tc is not that good...

 

Please call Scion Customer Service, and they will make sure the clutch is replaced. A clutch should not go out before 1.5k miles. Unless of course someone was doing 4k rpm drops.

 

thats why i drive auto muhaha

 

what's wrong with 4k rpm drops?

 

kick em in the *****, that'll get em moving

 

Bump for an update.

 

my stock clutch started to slip at 1500 miles.
i had an intake and header at the time. there was no reason for it to start slipping at that point...
i do mostly highway driving at 80mph so there was little shifting done by that point.

if they do cover it (and they should, or i would raise hell) see if they will let you upgrade to the trd one or go aftermarket and never worry about it again.

 

Yeah I had the same problem , whenever i have header , full exhaust and intake it slips . really annoying but didnt start doing it till like 9k. and me having no money for an upgreaded clutch will just lead to another premature failure. such a bad design . great thinkin toyota.

 

I don't have any serious power mods (just a really lame excuse for an intake) and I drive like a mad man. Knock on wood, by my clutch doesn't slip unless I really abuse my shifts. I'm at 27,000 miles

 

funny thing, my clutch never slipped from shifting...
around 4000rpm the clutch would start to loose its grip...it would keep the same speed but the rpm's would run up to redline.
i would have to fan the clucth to get grip again...

i boosted the motor later on and really blew it out...hehehe
couldn't get out of the driveway..shifted between the gears while sitting still without the clutch....